India hope to finish 9th in Hockey Jr World Cup

New Delhi, Dec 11 (IANS) After failing to qualify for the quarterfinals, the Indian team now hopes to finish ninth in the ongoing Hockey Junior World Cup.

The host country will be playing for the 9-12 classification matches after finishing third in their pool and will take on Argentina Thursday.

"The team is putting in the best possible efforts for the match tomorrow (Thursday) against Argentina. No doubt, the players are little disappointed about the draw against Korea yesterday (Tuesday) but we are looking forward to securing ninth position in the tournament and have kept our hopes high. We are focusing on reviewing the previous matches so we don't repeat mistakes," India captain Manpreet Singh said at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here Wednesday.

India needed to win against South Korea Tuesday but only managed a 3-3 draw, despite leading 3-1 till the 58th minute. Korea progressed on a better goal difference.

"We tried our best against Korea and went for fast attacks till the end but ended up losing. Moreover, I was given a green card which turned the tables in the game. Any small or big change during the game affects the players and creates a huge impact on the overall match," added Manpreet.

"Few of our players -- Talwinder Singh, Amit Rohidas and Imran Khan -- played extremely well. The Koreans were very strong in their defence which was one of the major reasons of the draw. As far as the team structure is concerned, I believe that we have a perfect team to compete against any opponent and I don't feel that any kind of change is required."